By Anora Mahmudova and Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
Apple climbs 1.3% premarket after earnings beat
The mood on Wall Street improved just before the opening bell on
Tuesday, after stronger-than-expected housing data.
Home prices picked up in February, rising 5% year-over-year,
according to the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite index.
A number of disappointing earnings reports weighed on the
benchmarks earlier, including Ford (F), which reported a drop in
first-quarter profit.
Adding to Monday's losses
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-investors-begin-the-wait-for-apple-results-fomc-meeting-2015-04-27),
futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YMM5) were off by 34
points, or 0.2%, to 17,955, while those for the S&P 500 index
(ESM5) was off by 3 points, or 0.2% to 2,101. Futures for the
Nasdaq-100 index (NQM5) slipped 3 points, or 0.1%, to 4,521, with
Apple Inc. (AAPL) shares helping cap losses for the benchmark.
"With the strength in equities of late, investors are looking
for any excuse to lock in some profits and Fed meetings tend to
provide a prompt," said Mike McCudden, head of derivatives at
stockbroker Interactive Investor, in a note. "However, with a low
rate and artificially stimulated global environment equities are
still looking to continue their trend higher."
The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting kicks off on
Tuesday, but the interest-rate statement isn't released until
Wednesday afternoon at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Investors will be
looking for clues as to whether a near-term rate hike is still in
play, although a large majority of Fed watchers don't think the
central bank will provide any hints, preferring to keep all options
on the table
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-not-ready-to-concede-it-wont-hike-this-summer-2015-04-27).
For the discussion on Wednesday, the FOMC will have the
first-quarter GDP number to include in their assessment of the
economy and interest rates.
Tuesday's data: Consumer confidence, due at 10 a.m. Eastern
Time, is expected to climb to 102.5 in April, after surging to
101.3 in March
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-consumer-confidence-surges-in-march-on-short-term-outlook-2015-03-31).
U.S. house prices
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/case-shiller-20-city-home-price-index-up-05-in-february-2015-04-28-99105)
picked up in February, rising 0.5%, according to the
S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite index released Tuesday.
Compared with February 2014, prices for the 20-city index were up
5% -- the fastest growth in half a year.
Earnings: Reporting ahead of the bell, Ford Motor Co.(F) said
profit was down 7%
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ford-profit-down-7-on-losses-in-europe-latam-2015-04-28)
in the first quarter as profitability in North America and Asia was
offset by losses in Europe and South America. Shares were unchanged
premarket.
Drug maker Pfizer Inc.(PFE) reported a slight rise in
first-quarter profit
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pfizer-trims-outlook-on-strong-dollar-2015-04-28),
but trimmed its full-year outlook. Shares climbed 0.3%.
Another drug maker, Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) put on 5.4% after
raising its earnings guidance for the full year
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/merck-raises-outlook-as-profit-sales-top-estimate-2015-04-28)
despite the negative impact of the stronger dollar.
Shares of Coach Inc.(COH) slumped 6% ahead of the bell after the
luxury-goods retailer topped fiscal third-quarter profit
expectations, but missed on sales
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/coachs-stock-drops-after-sales-fall-more-than-expected-2015-04-28).
Shares of Whirlpool Corp.(WHR) dropped 7.5% premarket after the
home-appliances maker cut its full-year earnings guidance
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/whirlpool-profit-falls-short-cuts-outlook-2015-04-28).
Apple earnings: After Monday's closing bell, tech giant Apple
(AAPL) posted a 33% rise in quarterly profit
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-posts-33-rise-in-earnings-raises-div-2015-04-27),
boosted by a surge in iPhone sales and solid growth in China. Apple
also raised its dividend, by 11%, and its share-repurchase program
by $50 billion, to $140 billion. Shares were up 2.6% ahead of the
market open. Read: How to play Apple stock after the earnings call
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-to-play-apple-stock-post-earnings-2015-04-27)
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-to-play-apple-stock-post-earnings-2015-04-27)Morgan
Stanley lifted its price target on Apple to $166 from $160 and said
the company is among its "best idea" stocks.
Other markets:European stock markets
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-fall-as-commerzbank-shares-drop-fed-meeting-eyed-2015-04-28)
were lower, with investors there were also taking a cautious stance
ahead of the Fed meeting.
Asia stocks closed mixed
(http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid), with Japanese
shares shrugging off a sovereign credit downgrade by Fitch
Ratings.
Metals dropped across the board, and so did energy prices
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-slides-with-brent-dropping-below-65-2015-04-28).
The dollar (DXY) was mostly lower against other major
currencies.
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